Is Modi’s Gujarat richer than China?

There was an interesting and educating news item in The Hindu on 13th April, 2013 with the title Gujarat, the gateway to India: fact or farce?

After reading it with wide eyes and mind wide open even someone like me who is a staunch supporter of Modi’s Gujarat and everything related to it (up till now) developed a bit of heart change towards some points what this progressive state(if in actuality) projects.

Keeping everything else in an isolated corner, my focus (as the article I read) would only be on the issue discussed in the write-up. Believe me you, by the end of my argument you too would be bit disenchanted from whatever Gujarat or Narendra Modi boasts about most of the time.

As per the official figures of Gujarat, Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) for the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of around $ 876 billion were signed during the Vibrant Global Investor Summit that was organized five times from 2003 to 2011.

Now you would be asking what is so intriguing about the fact and the given figures only reinstate what Gujarat under Narendra Modi is advocating during the period.

However, the interesting fact here is that had Gujarat attracted and invested even half of the amount of MoU’s ($876 billion) into the state it could have well been the top most state that attracts the highest level of FDI among all the states in the country. However, as per 2013 official figures, Maharashtra (as for the last many years) leads the race and Gujarat stands at sixth position.

Most astonishingly, it would also have been much ahead of China (that attracted around $ 600 billion during the period) too had even 50% of the total amount been invested in the land of Mahatma Gandhi.

It should here be made clear that the aim of my article is not to defame Modi or Gujarat by any means. Infact we all are too proud of what Narendra Modi has achieved up till now. The only thing that hurts and should surely dent the well wishers of the prolific leader like him is that wrong facts could very easily lead to slandering of the hard earned reputation. The matter gets more problematic when his secular credentials and his claim for the Prime Ministerial candidature is under serious attack from the allies of BJP. Hope we get some corrections on state website Gujaratindia soon.

I am a business and finance journalist who is currently employed at Financial Express and previously at Zee News. My areas of interest include business and foreign policy. You can reach me on Twitter at @ashuvirgo1984 or @eFundsPlus.